Garment hanger



Sept 26, 1967 F. c. SCHMEDNECHT 3,343,733

GARMENT HANGER Filed Jan. 5, 1966 f Figure ff f,

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#w-Q! Zym/jd ATTORNEY United States Patent O 3,343,733 GARMENT HANGER Fred C. Schmednecht, 39 Dover Drive, Des Plaines, Ill. 60018 Filed Jan. 3, 1966, Ser. No. 518,200 6 Claims. (Cl. 223-95) ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE length of the horizontal arm is from about 0.5 to about 6 inches.

This invention relates to garment hangers and more particularly relates to hangers for the orderly hanging of garments such as trousers, slacks, pants, skirts and the like wherein at least one stirrup, strap or other looped band is attached to the garment. The garment hanger is designed to hang the garment from the looped band such as a stirrup, strap, etc.

It is an object of this invention to provide a stirrup pant hanger having means for supporting the pants by the stirrup.

It is another object of this invention to provide a hanger for garments having at least one looped band, said hanger having means for supporting the garment by the band.

It is another object of this invention to provide a hanger having means to prevent the stirrup, straps, etc. from sliding while on ,the hanger.

It is a principle object of this invention to provide a garment hanger of the above kind which is eflicient in Ause, simple in design and inexpensive t`o manufacture.

FIGURE 1 is a top view of a preferable embodiment of the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is a front view of said preferable embodiment.

FIGURE 3 is a side View of said preferable embodiment.

FIGURE 4 is aH front view of an alternate preferable i embodiment.

FIGURE 5 shows the garment hanger supporting stretch pants.

FIGURE 2, which is drawn approximately to scale,

Suspension element 6 is sized to fit over the closet supf porting rod, display rack, etc. in the same manner as a conventional clothes hanger. Since the typical closet rod has a maximum standard diameter, it is desirable that the diameter of the inner semi-circle formed by suspension element 6 slightly exceed this maximum diameter. Preferably the diameter of said semi-circle is from about 1% inches to about 1% inches. If desired, advertising copy, such as the name of the manufacturer of the garment or store in which the garment was purchased may be carried on the hanger at some position. Preferably suspension element 6 carries advertising copy 15 as shown in FIGURE 2. A downwardly sloping shoulder 7 extends at one end from neck portion 5. The other end of shoulder 7 carries at least one substantially horizontal arm, said arm being the supporting arm for the stirrup, strap, etc. In FIGURE 2 shoulder 7 carries two horizontal arms p ICC only one arm of which is visible from the front view shown. This substantially horizontal arm 8 is attached at one end to shoulder 7 and carries 'a groove 9 near the other end of said arm. A downwardly sloping arm 10 is attached at one end to neck portion 5 and carries a holding bracket 11 at the other end. The holding bracket is positioned to engage groove 9 of horizontal arm 8 when arm S is raised slightly to a true horizontal position as shown in the dotted position. When arm 8 is in the dotted position, it is locked there and supported at one end by shoulder 7 and at the other end by holding bracket 11. When a lstirrup is draped over arm 8 and the arm iS locked into position with bracket 11, it is impossible for the stirrups to slip olf the hanger. When arm 8 is not locked into position with bracket 11, it is not in a true horizontal position. However, the arm must possess suiicient ilexibility to allow it to be moved from the dotted position to the solid position. It should be noted that arm 8 is normally in a slightly downwardly sloping position V(shown in the solid lines) from shoulder 7 when in its unlocked position. This allows the stirrup, strap, etc. to be easily slid onto arm 8. When arm 8 is raised and locked into the position (shown in dotted lines) tension will be placed on the arm since the arm wants to return to its normal downwardly sloping position. The tension serves to maintain the hanger in a locked position and prevent accidental unlocking ofthe arm.

FIGURE 1 is a top view of the hanger shown in FIGURE 2. In this view the other horizontal arm 12 is shown attached at one end to shoulder 7 and carrying groove 13 (shown in dotted) at the other end. In addition, downwardly sloping arm 10, holding bracket 11,

suspension element 6,`horizonta1 arm 8 and groove 9 are shown in this view. Slots 13 and 14 in bracket 11 -are visible in this view and are employed to engage with grooves 9 and 18 respectively to lock arms 8 and 12 into supporting position. It is, of course, apparent that, as

shown, the horizontal arms are not locked into position.

FIGURE 3, which is drawn approximately to scale, is a side View of the hanger shown in FIGURE 2. In this View the holding bracket 11 is shown more clearly and contains slots 13 and 14 to lock the horizontal arms into position and securely maintain them there. Slot 13 engages and supports arm 8 while slot 14 engages and supports arm 12. Preferably groove 9 engages slot 13 and groove 18 engages slot 14. The hanger will also functionequally well if either the slots or the grooves are eliminated. However, at least one set (either the slots or Vthe grooves) are preferably retained in order to securely maintain arms 8 and 12 in lthe true horizontal position.

-In addition, suspension element 6, neck portion 5, and downwardly sloping arm 10 are visible from this View.

It is possible to vary some of the details of construction yof the preferable embodiment shown in FIGURES 1, 2 and 3 such as to use a single substantially horizontal arm instead of two, use a different means for supporting the other end of the horizontal arms, use a different means for engaging the arms with the holding bracket, place ridging grooves along the length of the horizontal arms to prevent the stirrups from slipping, etc. All these modifications are intended to be included in my invention in its broadest sense. Included among the major advantages of my garment hanger are its small dimensions, thus minimizing manufacturing expense and space occupied on a rack. The length of the horizontal yarms is from about 0.5 to about 6 inches andpreferably is about 3 inches. The vertical distance from the uppermost point on the suspension element to be the lowest point on the horizontal arm is from about 2%. inches to about 6 inches and preferably is about 31/8 inches. My garment hanger can be used advantageously in stores since the hangers are inexpensive, occupy minimum space on a clothes rack, may carry advertising copy and are useful in supporting garments from their stirrups, straps, etc. In many cases it is preferable to support the garment from the stirrups since this will prevent fold lines and tight packing of garments on a display rack. This hanger is especially suited for stirrup pants such as stretch pants, ski slacks, etc. since they will permit a greater number of garments to be placed on a display rack.. In many cases store owners must double the pant thickness when draping the pants over a conventional clothes hanger. The hangers Lwith the clips mounted thereon are sometimes satisfactory to avoid this doubling thickness problem, but the jaws of the clips bite into the fabric and mar its appearance. If the tension on the jaws is reduced, there is not enough strength to support the weight of the pants. This effect is especially compounded in the case of ski pants since the fabric is of very heavy weight.

The operation of the pant hanger is very simple and straightforward. The stirrups, straps, etc. are slid over the horizontal arms and the arms are then locked into supporting position with the holding bracket. The garment hanger is then hung on the clothes rack.

Another preferable embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGURE 4. FIGURE 4 is a front view of the hanger similar to that of FIGURE 2. Again, neck portion 5 has suspension element 6 extending upwardly therefrom and shoulder 7' extending downwardly therefrom. Horizontal arm 8 extends at one end from shoulder 7' and has restraining bar 16 attached thereto at the other end. The restraining bar serves to prevent the straps, stirrups, etc. from slipping ot arm 8. In addition, a series of ridging grooves 17 are carried by the upper surface of arm 8 to prevent the stirrup from sliding along the length of arm 8. This embodiment has eliminated the downwardly extending arm shown in the FIGURES 1, 2 and 3. Either one or two horizontal arms may be satisfactorily employed in this embodiment.

FIGURE 5 shows an overall view of the garment hanger of the present invention being -used to support stretch pants. Hanger 20 is shown supporting stretch pants 22. This is accomplished by draping stirrups 21 over the horizontal arm in hanger 20. It can also be seen how small and compact hanger 20 is relative to the garment that it is supporting. It is easily imagined as to the difference in size when compared to a conventional clothes hanger.

The hangers of the present invention may be constructed out of such material as metal, plastic, wood, etc. A preferable material is plastic since the hanger may be manufactured inexpensively by a molding process and uses inexpensive material. This technique is preferable since the hanger is all one continuous solid piece. Metal wire is also suitable. The horizontal arms either in the embodiment of FIGURES 1, 2 and 3 or as shown in FIG- URE 4 may be constructed to have ridging grooves carried along the upper side to prevent sliding along its length. This is readily accomplished when constructing the hanger out of plastic since the mold can be shaped to produce the ridging.

I claim as my invention:

1. A `stirrup pants hanger which comprises:

a neck portion;

a suspension element upwardly extending from said neck portion;

a downwardly sloping shoulder extending from said lneck portion;

two horizontal arms each connected at one end to and extending from a common point on said shoulder, and having a length of from about 0.5 to about 6 inches, each horizontal arm to support a stirrup of a pant leg;

a downward sloping arm extending at one end from the neck portion; and

holding bracket means connected to the other end of the downward sloping arm to separately engage the other end of each horizontal arm forming a closed hanger loop to lock each stirrup therein.

2. The hanger of claim 1 further characterized lin that each horizontal arm is in a substantially truly horizontal elevation when engaged with the holding bracket means and each horizontal arm is in a slight downward sloping elevation with saidone end being at the highest elevation when the horizontal arm is disengaged with the holding bracket means.

3. The hanger of claim 2 further characterized in that the holding bracket means comprises a bar which forms a pair of slots, each slot able to engage one horizontal arm near its other end to lock and support the horizontal arm Ain the substantially truly horizontal elevation.

4. The hanger of claim 3 further characterized in that a groove is formed near the other end of each horizontal arm, each groove engaging the slot in the holding bracket to securely lock the horizontal arm therein.

5. The hanger of claim 4 further characterized in that the length of the horizontal arm is about 3 inches.

6. The hanger of claim 4 further characterized in that the horizontal arm carries a series of ridging grooves to help prevent the stirrup from sliding.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 841,945 1/1907 Doughty 223-95 X 1,099,261 6/1914 Lewyt 223-88 X 1,112,775 10/ 1914 Crutcher 22S-95X 2,150,869 3/1939 Shafarmau 223-88 2,224,161 12/ 1940 Rice 223-95 X 2,575,979 11/1951 Simon et al 223-91 X 2,994,462 8/ 1961 Hirsch et al 223-95 3,276,645 10/ 1966 Buzzelli 223-95 FOREIGN PATENTS 227,409 5 1963 Austria.

471,633 9/1937 Great Britain.

123,675 3/ 1919 Great Britain.

PATRICK D. LAwsoN, Primary Examiner.

G. KRIZMANICH, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A STIRRUP PANTS HANGER WHICH COMPRISES: A NECK PORTION; A SUSPENSION ELEMENT UPWARDLY EXTENDING FROM SAID NECK PORTION; A DOWNWARDLY SLOPING SHOULDER EXTENDING FROM SAID NECK PORTION; TWO HORIZONTAL ARMS EACH CONNECTED AT ONE END TO AND EXTENDING FROM A COMMON POINT ON SAID SHOULDER, AND HAVING A LENGTH OF FROM ABOUT 0.5 TO ABOUT 6 INCHES, EACH HORIZONTAL ARM TO SUPPORT A STIRRUP OF A PANT LEG; A DOWNWARD SLOPING ARM EXTENDING AT ONE END FROM THE NECK PORTION; AND HOLDING BRACKET MEANS CONNECTED TO THE OTHER END OF THE DOWNWARD SLOPING ARM TO SEPARATELY ENGAGE THE OTHER END OF EACH HORIZONTAL ARM FORMING A CLOSED HANGER LOOP TO LOCK EACH STIRRUP THEREIN. 